With Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco gone to the Mets, speculation rose about Jose Ramirez’s potential future with the Indians, as the AL MVP runner-up is one of the few players still drawing a significant salary on Cleveland’s roster. However, while teams have been in touch with the Tribe about Ramirez, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) reports that “Cleveland is not interested in moving him.”
Ramirez is owed $9MM in 2021, the last guaranteed season of the five-year, $26MM extension he signed back in March 2017. He is also controlled through 2023 on a pair of club options that would pay Ramirez $11MM in 2022 ($2MM buyout and $13MM in 2023 (no buyout), with potential bonus clauses that could add another $1MM to each of those option years.
Even at the top potential price tag of $35MM over three years, Ramirez’s is obviously “one of baseball’s biggest bargains,” Rosenthal notes. As Ramirez enters his age-28 season with three top-three MVP finishes over the last four seasons, he would have easily scored more than $200MM if he had been a free agent even in this unusual offseason.
Given the nature of Cleveland’s payroll limitations, it isn’t out of the question that the Indians could explore moving Ramirez before his contract is up. But, Ramirez’s contract makes him far less of a trade chip than Lindor was, since Lindor never signed an extension and thus had a salary that rose considerably every year via the arbitration process. (By comparison’s sake, Ramirez will earn less over the next two seasons than the $22.3MM that Lindor will earn in 2021 alone.) Carrasco was also a bit more expensive, as well as older, and perhaps more expendable given the number of young starters Cleveland’s farm system has been able to generate for the MLB roster.
As evidenced by recent signings of Eddie Rosario and Cesar Hernandez, the Tribe is still planning to contend this season. Should the team stumble, it’s possible we could again hear some whispers of a Ramirez deal around the trade deadline, though the nature of Ramirez’s contract probably means the Indians would hang onto him for at least another full year, barring a broader change in organizational direction.
Wow how “surprising”
This team must do something more progressive than “treading on water”. They may have played well like the As (a complement from me not trashing) but I want to see them change the game too. Jose Ramirez has somewhat value potential reached and they need to rebuild now with the best low risk high potential prospects they can and they’re a management build team that can do it… Do not agree with their approach here. White Sox are gonna be a terror for 2-3 years.
He will be on the block this next offseason. He can bring back a major haul with the two more years of control.
@Hosmer for HOF
The Chicago White Sox are one of the worst organizations in the sport. I would prefer the Cleveland Indians not emulate them, sorry. I’m sure the Sox will be formidable for a number of years, but there is no reason the Tribe can’t hang with them. Or have you forgotten the four game series that in the last week of the season? This “treading water” stuff is nonsense. The idea is to to be competitive and reach the postseason. The Tribe does this very well in a difficult economic environment. The belief that trading Jose Ramirez’s three years of control guarantees you anything in the future is ridiculous. No reason to even think about it unless the team stinks, and with that rotation and bullpen, it ain’t gonna.
These days it is surprising when a team tries to sustainably compete — like everybody used to — instead of intentionally tanking for 5 years whenever things get challenging and they have to trim some budget.
BINGO. And yet the Tribe gets criticized for it. Go figure.
In other news, water is wet.
Come on dodgers trade lux and gonsolin for him! He would be a cheap addition to replace the aging turner who’s asking for too many years and annually.
You think that’s enough?? lolol… smh
You trying to turn the MLB into the freaking NBA? No one wants to see three super teams, and 27 teams with no chance to win anything
Agree
Too late it already is. Big free agents want 30+ mil a year. Only 5-6 teams can afford that.
Only 5-6 teams are willing to afford it.
Fixed it for you. Every team can afford it if they want to.
No you just followed the agenda. Did you not see the Braves finances? Public record. If you think a team like the Royals or even the Orioles can afford a 40 mil dollar player, your not paying attention.
Dodgers can’t trade for him because Cleveland won’t trade him. Plus, Lux and Gonsolin wouldn’t be enough to get the deal done.
Man you guys are slow did I say that would be the only pieces moving? Obviously not. Gonsolin and lux would be a great starting point though, I doubt gray and ruiz would be included pages and some other fliers sure.
You literally say Lux and Gonsolin, nothing else, and everyone else is slow?
Here’s an idea…lay out the full proposal.
No idea what it would take not a gm.
Lux, Gonsolin, Ruiz, and Pages.
What part of “not interested in trading him” part is generating all these trade proposals? Is it the “not interested” part?
You did say he would be a “cheap addition” though. Hardly
I chose to ignore the “not” part and just saw “interested” and decided to imagine the term “desperate” thrown in there somewhere.
I saw “disinterested in not trading him” and decided that was a double negative I could live with.
Indians aren’t parting with Ramirez unless it’s for a sizeable overpay. The Dodgers would have to throw in Josiah Gray and maybe even Keibert Ruiz or Andy Pages to a package headlined by Lux and Gonsolin.
They’ll inevitably trade him. It’s just dependant on if its 2022 off season or 2023.
yeah sure that’s realistic
That’s the point I’m trying to make. The Indians don’t just want the moon for Ramirez. They probably want the whole solar system.
@Tatsumaki:
Do you always like your own posts?
@bhambrave I have fans sorry this upsets you
Lol “fans” on a discussion board. I truly feel for you and your strangely oversized ego.
With posts lime that, if he didn’t nobody would.
…..like that,
Might want to change your name pretty sure they aren’t affiliated with indians moniker anymore.
Maybe you should educate yourself before making a fool of yourself?
Name change comes after this season.
Tatsumaki always likes his own posts.
You guys sound just like qanon believers. Sad. Dan is sad that no one likes his posts bashing anything dodgers related because he’s a salty pads fan. Almost as bad a vegassdfan
I have a love/hate relationship with my own posts, but that is mainly due to differing opinions among the voices in my head.
You do realize that you cannot like your own post for it to count as a thumb up, right?
Prolly not
Gray and Ruiz to start.
May, lux, Ruiz maybe.
The Dodgers have no need to do this. Hoese will be ready in a year.
All you GM’s ready to trade Lux, Ruiz, May, Gonsolin, Gray. Have y’all paid attention to the Padres trades? They still have their main core of top prospects. And the Cardinals, who/what did they give up for Arenado? Nothing! Plus talked the Rockies into giving them $50 mil. to boot. WOW! Y’all better go back to GM 101, regardless of which team you’re really with.
@ lgydodger
In that case the Dodgers should be willing to trade Buehler for the same package that the Padres paid for Snell? Maybe a touch more? I mean, considering current prices that should be fair, right?
Not for sale means NOT FOR SALE. Unless you offer me a huge prospect haul along with your house, car and youngest daughter.
@l9ydodger – Ramirez has much more trade value than any of the players you mentioned. Arenado is coming off a down year and paid like an elite player for the next 6 years. Darvish is 34 years old and paid $60 million for the next 3 years. Snell has a similar contract/age, but his best year was in 2018, and he is not a top 10 pitcher in baseball. Ramirez is a top 10 player in baseball who is in his prime, coming off a second place MVP finish, and on a very cheap contract for the next 3 years.
If any baseball team wants Ramirez, it would probably cost 2 top-100 prospects plus successful, young major league players.
You can’t use Arenado and his 200 million as a comparison to Ramirez and his 20 million. The Cardinals didn’t get the Rockies to pay 50 million. The Rockies got the Cardinals to pay 150 million. Arendado got the Cardinals to add another year to the end of his contract and a second opt out.
Ramirez isn’t any of the pitchers the Padres got. He’s a consistent MVP candidate. It would take the whole farm to get him.
Sure you can. The Rockies kicked in $50M to move Arenado because his contract was under water by that much. Ramirez represents around $80M in excess value, so that’s how much would have to be returned to Cleveland in player value or cash to entice them into a trade. This might be the “whole farm” for some teams, but it would be two or three top-grade prospects no matter how else you figure it, unless Cleveland has an underwater contract of their own they want to move to offset. This really isn’t as complicated as some want to make it sound. Once you have the numbers what needs to happen to facilitate a trade is pretty obvious.
If you believe Arenado’s contract is underwater then sure. But it’s not. If it was, the Cardinals wouldn’t have added another year and another opt out to his contract to get him to waive his NTC.
There are too many differences between the two trade scenarios for them to be comparable. No team would use an Arenado trade to determine a price for Ramirez. It’s not logical.
It was $40-50M underwater, which was obvious before he was traded, and is why the Rockies paid $50M to get something back for trading him, which made it even more obvious. All the other stuff is in the margins and had little to no impact on whether his current contract was underwater. It was, and that’s why the Rockies had to ante up.
They are comparable in the sense that the method used to estimate how much a contract is over or under market value is the same. Ramirez is being paid significantly less that what he’d get if he was a free agent now. Arenado well over.
add in May
Indians seem to be good at rebuilding on the fly. It’s not very surprising that they’re not too keen on trading Ramirez. Although I do wonder what it would take to get him. Affordably controlled over the next 3 seasons and has finished top 3 in MVP voting in 3 of the last 3 years.
When a club is “not interested” in trading a particular player, it usually means “offer us the farm and we’ll think about it.” He’s probably not going anywhere because the Cleveland baseball club would want a major haul to move him.
Yea, I think the only team that could be able to put anything close to a package that would intrigue the Indians is the Dodgers. Lux, Gray, Gonsolin and Ruiz/Pages/Busch would definitley get the talks going, but then and only then it seems.
You need your head examined if you think the Dodgers are the only team that could put a package together. I guarantee at least 10 teams in baseball could put a trade together for him
Very true. They may be the only team that could trade the near MLB talent that Cleveland always wants, and not have it cripple them years down the road
Rays and Padres certainly have the prospect pool to get it done
@tommy it’s the only trade that he could come up with in which the team overpays massively for Ramirez. Sad times ahead for pirates
What’s your issue? Pirates might not be very good in 2021, but they have a bright future.
The only other team that might be able to is the Ray’s, but I’d say way fewer than 10 teams. Maybe o ly 3 or so imo
Remember, the Indians aren’t willing to move Ramirez already. Unless they’re getting back an absolute overpay not moving him.
Rays, BRaves, Padres, Tigers, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, White Sox, Royals and Cards are all teams that I think could put together an offer that the Indians would approve of if they were willing to trade Ramirez
The Rays could throw together a package, but that’s about it. Maybe the Padres with Campusano and Abrahams and one of their young pitchers, however that’s very borderline to me and they wouldn’t need him anyway. Braves could use a big 3B bat, but many of their prospects have graduated prospect status. Does a Cristian Pache+Drew Water headlined package get it done? Maybe, but again borderline compared to what the Dodgers could offer.
How many of those teams are willing to make that trade though? Maybe I should have said that they would be the only team able to put together a good package and be willing to make the trade. Still, I don’t see how some of those teams could put together a good enough package. The Mets definitley don’t have the prospects to get it done, nor do the White Sox with many of their prospects now in the majors.
Where would Ramirez play for the Pads?
Non-starter argument right there.
they aren’t trading that package for anyone in the league lol. why not just throw in Rios and May and why stop there toss in Urias.
That’s what I mean. The Indians aren’t trading Ramirez lest they get a sizeable overpay. The Indians don’t want to part with him right now and that means that to even get their attention, a team would essentially give up the farm.
also the cards just got a 3rd basemen why drain our farm for a guy who plays the same pos that we traded for. unless we trade for him and jose can play 2nd or cf
Rammy came thru the Cleveland farm system playing second. In fact, it was the position he preferred up until 2 years ago when he decided he didn’t want to bounce 3rd to 2nd to 3rd every offseason. CLE front office has said the there are no untouchables, but some guys would take a boatload of talent, both major and minor leagues to pry some guys loose
2nd. He’d play over Kim every inning of every game. Kim would become a utility guy and a trade would be made.
It still isn’t going to happen, but not because they don’t have a spot for him. You make a spot for a Ramirez type player.
Especially since it appears that Lux is another over hyped prospect from the PCL that cannot translate his numbers there to the majors. We have plenty of 2B anyway so that package doesn’t start with him. It’s Gray, Ruiz, Hoese, and more to even begin the conversation.
Ramirez has insane trade value with that contract. They won’t trade him because the only team giving up the type of prospects that are valuable enough to make it worth their while this offseason is the Padres and they don’t need Ramirez. Plus I wonder if Preller is leery of trading with the Indians after how their last 3 trades worked out.
Around $80M in excess value, according to baseballtradevalues, which seems realistic. Very difficult for any team to swing that unless Cleveland has a bad contract they want to unload.
Ahh.. Cleveland Indians making the news again!
Cleveland Baseball Team.
FIFY.
I dont see a major reason to deal him. They have cost control. They develop pitchers like very few other teams. Mistake to write them off in a weaker division.
Yeah, they’re not interested now but could very well change their tune come middle of the season and allow themselves to get involved in a bad trade.
Aka “call me”
Hey, Jose is badass
we love him greatly
JK we’re cheapskates
So call us maybe
Lol
Read: Didn’t get a sufficiently enticing offer.
Honestly why not at this point? His value is more than likely never going to be higher and they might be hard pressed to compete even for an expanded playoff spot, much less if they’re back down to five teams.
The Indians would have made the playoffs in 2020 if the playoffs were at 5 teams. The Indians like the Rays retool each year to remain competitive. Trading Ramirez now would waste at least 2 seasons of Shane Bieber and their controllable starting pitching. Since the start of 2013, the Indians have won more games than anyone in baseball except the Dodgers. The Indian front office knows what it is doing,
That’s was banking wins against the weak central divisions, but they’re down three of their top five players from last year anyways. I don’t see how they beat out the other mid tier teams in the AL moving forward.
I love how you say that when you play the giants Rockies and Dbacks LoL
@JD Goat
A closer who throws 91? A clean-up hitter who hits. .199? A three-hole hitter who has hit less than .190 w/RISP over the last 220 games–that’s 54% worse than the AVERAGE hitter….THAT’s what we’re worried about losing? Tribe will miss Carlos Carrasco’s consistency and stability, but others with talent are chomping at the bit to get into the rotation. Hernandez returns, a full year of Naylor, a return to form of Luplow paired with Daniel Johnson, adding Eddie Rosario, better depth at catcher allowing Roberto Perez to be healthy….Clase in the pen…sure a lot has to go right for the Tribe, but an awful lot went wrong for them last year and where’d they finish? One game out. So counting them out–as so often they’ve been over the years–has been a bad gamble, and this year is no different.
I personally think the Indians look solid for 2021. Their rotation is very good and they have a lot of young offensive players with tons of upside and a mix of very good veterans.
Although the appeal to authority (“The Indians front office knows what it is doing.”) is one of my least favorite arguments, in Cleveland’s case they really do have a pretty good track record, @hockeyjohn.
But I think most outsiders can see that – although they’ve done a remarkable job – they are cutting their margin for error thinner every year.
As of now, I’m sure Ramirez is staying put. But it’s not hard to see Cleveland being buried by the trade deadline. MN is still good & they don’t appear to be done adding. Their front office doesn’t mind the long game. The Sox are a pretty trendy pick for the AL Pennant. & rightly so! They also don’t appear to be done adding.
Even Detroit & KC look better.
I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see Ramirez dealt this summer.
Ya know?
He still makes 8 figures/yr. That seems to be some type of problem in Cleveland.
Trading Lindor already wasted a season of Bieber and their controllable starting pitching.
As an Indians’ fan I so sick of hearing this BS. They’ve won more games because the AL Central has been absolutely horrendous. Finally the Twins put together a decent team and the run was over for Cleveland. Now the White Sox are the cream of the crop and we’ll struggle to get 3rd place. Even with the additions.
“But, Ramirez’s contract makes him far less of a trade chip than Lindor was, since Lindor never signed an extension and thus had a salary that rose considerably every year via the arbitration process.”
A trade chip is someone you offer in a trade. This wording is very weird as it sounds like he would be less valuable to other teams. I’m assuming you meant he’s less likely to be traded by the Tribe because of his team friendly deal.
Hey GCarbs, you are right. That wording is so weird that I confused myself trying to concoct a response. In my mind Ramirez would be a more valuable trade chip with the three years of control at a bargain rate. While Lindor is and projects to continue as a superior (but not light years better) player, his contract cost this year and pending free agency brings the two more in line.
Jose Ramirez has been the better player over the las 3 or 4 seasons by War.
Projections says he is going to be slightly better than lindor again in 2021, is just that for some reason lindor is more popular, but with the cheap controllable contract, Ramirez is way more valuable.
Might be feeling different in July.
Then again they might not.
Chastise me all you want but:
My Hypothetical Braves Deal: Ramirez, Pitching Prospect for Waters, Bryce Elder, Austin Riley, Tucker Davison, Jesse Franklin
My Hypothetical Dodgers Deal: Ramirez and Major league Ready OF Depth for Lux, Gonsolin, Mitch White, Clayton Beeter, Edwin Rios
I wanna hear your guys’ thoughts on these
indians have no major league ready OF depth. they don’t even have any good ML OFs aside from rosario
I’m an Indians fan too, but when I mean OF depth I mean someone like Zimmer, who doesnt have a clear path to playing time on our roster right now, and due to his former decent prospect status could be an interesting piece
No to both deals. Neither moves the needle to convince the Indians to trade Jose Ramirez.
My thought is that I’m glad I wasn’t drinking something when reading your proposals. I would have spray the computer screen over your major league ready OF depth comment.
It seems like a lot of people are wondering what I mean by outfield depth. I’m talking about someone like Bauers or Zimmer. A former top prospect who doesn’t have a clear path to a starting job anywhere which could look somewhat enticing to a team
First fair trade I have seen on here so far. Armchair gms seem to think dodgers would be forced to empty there entire top 10 while stars like arenado, darvish and snell get delt for next to nothing. I think the dodgers deal is fair giving the gonsolin whom pitched fantastic in regular season and has 5 years of control and lux whom also has 6 years of control with all star upside. Both are pushing for majors rosters and fit Indians window to compete now, they are blocked with dodgers. Ramirez is 27/28 and fits dodgers window as well as being a right handed bat that gives them a stop gap till Cody hoese. Win win for all sides
Ramirez wouldn’t be anyone’s stopgap. But since Hoese will be ready in a year, the Dodgers have no reason to make such a trade. They just won a World Series without Ramirez and are still improving. I don’t understand why people are so anxious to trade Lux. Electric bat with the ability to play SS if Seager leaves next winter.
@ Tatsumaki
The Indians are not going to trade Ramirez for a “fair trade” offer. That is why they say they are “not interested” in trading him. If you want to change their minds you will have to offer them something that they cannot refuse. Lux and Gonsolin are easy to refuse.
There’s a reason neither of them has a clear path. They’ve both sucked at the major league level.
There is zero evidence of this.
Might want to check your sources homer
Gonsolin:
2019 2.93 era 143 era + 3.86 fip 1.025 whip
2020 2.29 era 183 era + 2.29 fip .836 whip
Not sure what your definition of garbage is but can see why your an armchair gm.
So you want the other team to take your garbage? Sounds about right.
@Tatsumaki your missing a big piece of why both sd and the cards got darvish and arenado pretty cheap and it has a lot to do with age and cost. darvish is in his mid 30’s other than last year he hasn’t be healthy for a full season. the cards also added a opt out and a year @15mil and were pretty much eating all of that contract . lad doesn’t really need josé he would be a luxury item especially if they have a kid in there milb system knocking on the door (not sure what lad has on the farm i’m just going off what i read and could be wrong i often am lol). big part of lad success is that they built up there farm into a top 5 least top 10 in mlb grew most of there club and then supplement with fa and trades and lad is set up to do this for the next 10 years if they continue to be smart about how they grow trade and supplement. alt is the best fit i see but then again a lot of the points i made for the lad apply to atl.
The Indians are in a very tough spot in the AL Central. White Sox are done with their rebuild. Twins are already good and have a solid farm system. Royals and Tigers are both already engaged in rebuilds and both appear to be loading up nicely with young talent. Cleveland needs to be careful, or they could find themselves dug in at the bottom of the AL Central for the next decade.
Cleveland has a very good farm system as well as solid pitching. They have been successful retooling and being a playoff contender. They have an excellent front office who knows what to do.
Cleveland pulls pitching out of nowhere. They’ll be fine.
Lindor isn’t a pitcher
Well saying a team needs to be careful is always a good assumption. But Cleveland has shown a solid ability at developing talent, especially arms. I don’t see them hitting the skids for too long. They dont bottom end like KC does. They do a pretty good job bringing players on. I wouldn’t even write them off in 2021.
Thank god. If he went to the Braves they would have passed us!
You didn’t get Bauer, Springer, Realmuto — we gud
We only got Lindor and cookie+ lol
“Would have,” is presumptuous to think that you are even in the top of the division.
Look at the rosters bud
No doubt. Think the team is built well, but NL East is competitive. Lineup is very good and the pitching is better than average.
Been looking and waiting for the Mets and their superior pitching since Matt Harvey was a rookie.
Same s**t different year. They finally have a new owner, but they didn’t make any FO advancement. They’re trying to throw money at the problem and it’s going to take sooo much more than that. Took LA’s owners how many years to figure it out?
“Look at the rosters” it’s what Mets fans say every single off season.
“I knew they were gonna suck” is what they say during the season.
The Indians don’t want to trade him because I can’t imagine any team would want to meet the asking price and the Indians are justified in asking for the moon.
Elite thirdbasemen with three years of control at yard sale prices would probably cost a top 100 prospect for each year control and then a fourth one because you have to motivate the Indians to trade him and that’s only if the Indians are willing to take prospects.
Braves should be calling for opening discussions, depending on how this season goes.
It would probably take atleast 2 top 100 prospects, and two lower level lottery type prospects. I think they’re more focused on getting F2 a LTD as he is a FA after this year.
I imagine they already checked in on him.
It would take more than two top 100 prospects. An elite, low cost 3B with 3 years of control is an ugly cost. Especially because the Braves would have to provide all the motivation for the Indians to move him because they don’t want too.
Should this article even be here?
Yes
Everyone has a price. Get him Jays
“As evidenced by recent signings of Eddie Rosario and Cesar Hernandez, the Tribe is still planning to contend this season.”
Bull. Teams that are planning to contend don’t trade their face of the franchise. Ever.
Nats let the face of their franchise walk (looked at offers for him at the 2018 deadline) and then won the WS. Sure it’s dumb to do, but I wouldn’t count the Indians out on a sneaky wildcard spot
1. Harper wasn’t traded. He left as a FA. It’s different.
2. The Nats were flush with quality OF’s. The Indians don’t have a shortstop anywhere close to as good as Lindor.
Ramirez is better than Lindor.
Even if that were true, the Indians would still be sunk for 2021 without Lindor.
If?
Yeah if.
Ramirez is much better than Lindor, Ramirez is a top 10 player in baseball.
Is Lindor NOT a top 10 player in baseball???
Lindor plays a much more valuable position and is better defensively. Ramirez would have to be head and shoulder better at hitting to be the better player. He isn’t. He hits better but not by enough. Overall teams would take Lindor in a heart beat.
Ramirez might be more valuable than Lindor because of his contract, but Lindor is the better player.
Yes, the numbers say so , lindor is just more popular.
And Lindor isn’t a clutch rbi guy whereas JRam is.
No such thing as a clutch RBI guy.
The Indians have let their faces leave MANY times and still competed. They did it in the 90s too. Eddie Murray…Albert Belle….its their mo
The “kiss of death” by Cleveland. If they’re not going to deal him this year, chances are it’ll be next season. It doesn’t help the OF situation either.
Who has a weaker hitting OF? Indians or the team stuck in 2014 as the champions.
Cardinals
You’re interested in trading everyone else. So why note?
I’m sure Jose is super pumped about that.
since most teams have filled infield positions it would be dumb to trade him this offseason. that’s all!
…..What does that have to do with anything???
He gone
They’d be dumb as hell to get rid of that contract
As they should not be
I’m sure someone could pry Ramirez from Cleveland but the problem is Cleveland would have to think they are getting more then they are giving and most likely it would have to be talent that would help the Indians this year since they feel they are competing not rebuilding. This makes it nearly impossible to trade for this guy teams need to kick the tires but this isn’t a Lindor situation where everyone knew they were trading him. Time to move on.
If they feel they are competing why did they trade Lindor?
Because the owner is a cheap tight wad. Linder was going to make ~$30m a year, think about that? It’s almost their total payroll this year!
In the owners defense attendance has been miserable in recent years but if you can’t handle the heat then get out of the kitchen and sell the team!
That’s peanuts when you consider his production.
I’d take Jose over Lindor any day of the week because he never takes an at-bat, a game or even a week off like Lindor did when his head began to swell. MVP voters seemed to figure out which of the Indians’ “stars” was the teams most important player. Glad Lindoor is now in New York. Smiles are for the team picture only.
Duh. You have a superstar, top 10, if not top 5 player in baseball and his contract is pure robbery. Lol. You would have to trade away prospect capital that would tank any farm system to get him. Ex. At least Pache and Waters, plus Wright and some other top 30 prospects. And even then, I’m not sure that would get him if the Braves offered that. Might…. but who if I’m an Indians fan, I’d demand more
Now that’s a realistic proposal, bravesfan.
Agree. I think it would be really difficult because while I could understand a package of Waters, Langeliers, Wright and maybe Shewmake, I would be concerned that they would demand Anderson in the package and after what we saw from him last year, I would hope demanding him would be a deal breaker.
Waters, Langeliers, Wright and Shewmake would not be an overpay thus would not get Ramirez. The Indians are loaded with middle infield prospects along with Rosario and Gimenez from the Lindor trade so I doubt Shewmake would be interesting to them. Wright’s value as also dropped with his lack of success.
Braves fans just have to look elsewhere.
I think the overall point is, we (anyone) would have to give up such a legit offer that their farm system would be stripped. Padres or rays can go for it if they want, even Dodgers… they are the few times that can afford to do it in either cash rebuild or they have too much prospect capital (rays). But I just don’t see a realistic move that the Braves should or can make to get him. We’d literally lose 2-3 solid mlb ready prospects plus 2 others on the verge, for 1 guy. He’s a superstar, I get it… but it’s gonna cost a ton. Indians should shop him, no one should pull the trigger
Add Riley to that package and they probably take that deal.
Exactly. It’s an insane deal. The caliber and number of prospects we’d have to give up is too much. Sure, not all of them are likely to give us superstar lvl of play. But there 1 might, 2 others might give us legitimate starter place, and the last might be a big bust. Just not worth it
You dont get trophies for best farm system or lowest payroll.
The Indians are already at the point where they have to either trade a bunch of well thought of prospects or lose them in the next Rule Five. They should be trading four for one, not trading one for four.
Besides, if you have the pitching, you are always contenders, and nobody develops pitching better than Cleveland.
Career 28.1 WAR over a 7 year career (not counting 2013 with limited bats) is pretty solid stat line with 127 HRs. He is definitely a extra base hitter with unbelievable amounts of doubles with a .300 batting average. I’d try extend (if I was Cleveland) now and eliminate his current remaining contract. Give him 5 yrs 100 million contract for starting negotiations. Front load the first 3 years with incentives and opt out for remaining 2 years. This guy is under the radar and I can’t believe I missed out on this guy. Just blind to certain players and being in Lindors shadow, hard to get noticed. If Cleveland doesn’t extend him now, if I was him, I’d look for free agency and look for a huge contract next year. This kid is good
He should have won the MVP in 2020.
You bat your best hitter in the 3 hole. Lindor demonstrated last season he was not Cleveland’s best hitter. That’s why Ramirez will be hitting third in 2021.
Why do Mike Trout and Mookie Betts not bat 3rd then?
If I wanted to get my best batter 50 extra plate appearances a season I’d lead him off. Most theories state something like 1,2,and 4 are the key lineup slots. I was a little surprised but supposedly the 3 hole bats a lot without runners on. A really optimized lineup sets up 1-5 basically then leads off again. But…the difference seems to be kind of slight over just randomly setting a lineup.
not true. Batting 2nd gets you 38 at bats more pee season. It’s a fact that the 2 hole is best spot.
I think JRam is worth more then Lindor was this year but the article say the opposite “Ramirez’s contract makes him far less of a trade chip than Lindor was, since Lindor never signed an extension and thus had a salary that rose considerably every year via the arbitration process.” 3 years of a perennial MVP candidate that plays a premium position in 2B/3B is worth more then a MVP SS, even if he is the best SS
Keep him this year. He’s so good and on such an inexpensive contract that there won’t be significantly more offered this offseason vs next offseason. Not because he’s not worth it, but because teams won’t want to pay that much.
Jays should be all over this. Maybe they could put a package together like orelvis Martinez, Gabriel Moreno, kevin Smith, rowdy tellez and TJ Zeuch.
No one wants Tellez. Especially not in a trade for Ramirez
Yes why would Cleveland want Tellez at 1B/DH when the great Franmil Reyes can hit cleanup and ride Daniel Johnson in RF. No way could they use Rowdy’s bat with that (im)potent lineup.
No where close Cold Beer. Stay sober then realize what a poor offer you proposed.
The CLEFO (Cleveland Front Office) will usually stand firm when they make a pronouncement that a play is NOT going to be traded. The speculation on trades is a fun exercise w/ this site being able to present the ideas..
If any further moves/trades are to be considered.. the Indians would be looking at prospect for ML’ers/ready ML’ers/near ready ML’ers..
Example: Baltimore’s Anthony Santander.. he’s on a club that is in a serious rebuild w/ a poor minor league system and entering into his arbitration 1 year contract. An arbitration hearing that he lost w/ a differential of 300 K between offers.. Bad blood exists for a crappy club.. The Orioles are motivated to move him to a club that would be able to provide them with what they lack the most: Young controllable pitching talent. The fit is good as this is what the Indians have what could be approaching a glut of..
A deal like this would be the level/example of what the Indians would be looking to complete between now and the start of Spring Training.. now only 10 days and a wake up away..
I’d take Jose over Lindor any day of the week because he never takes an at-bat, a game or even a week off like Lindor did when his head began to swell. MVP voters seemed to figure out which of the Indians’ “stars” was the teams most important player. Glad Lindoor is now in New York. Smiles are for the team picture only.
Translation: Make us an offer we can’t refuse.
“Enjoy him. We control him for three more years. Enjoy him, and then, we’ll see what happens.”